Volleyball is a team-based sport that relies on teamwork, communication and unity within a team. Isabela Porfirio, or Isa for short, is a student athlete here at Lincoln, playing both soccer and volleyball. She is a junior and is in her third year playing volleyball. But as a sophomore, Isa  got to experience the elation and disappointment of CIF championships. 

Isa has been athletic her whole life but was interested in volleyball until middle school. She says, “it [volleyball] never actually interested me until my middle school friend ‘Samantha’ or Sam, who is also on the team with me, was in a club and introduced me to it.” Her love for the game was almost immediate. She continues, “I guess I just kinda fell in love with the sport and then decided that volleyball would be a sport that I would be interested in playing for high school.” At Lincoln, Isa felt right at home using words like "fun" to describe tryouts, and says practices are "very welcoming," that its a safe space where she is allowed to "make mistakes.

Isa made the freshman team and started her career off playing outside but has progressed and is now playing libero on varsity. When asked about the different positions she has played throughout her volleyball career, she admits, “I have actually always wanted to play libero, even when I first joined that was the position I was going for.” While she enjoyed being an outside hitter she described the transition to libero as "natural." She says,  "I eased into it very well" because her passing skills were better than her hitting skills; she just feels more comfortable in her position as a libero, it's "her position, her calling."

Last season Isa and her teammates achieved some amazing feats. "We went 28-5 last year," she shares. "We won the San Ysidro High School tournament, my first. I feel like we played our hearts out and got the prize we deserved; even if we never got the trophy." In league, the team went undefeated and won for the first time in school history. Of their game against Madison, the match that determined who would be league champions, Isa says, "we played the best we could that day, we were on point. The hype was there. The energy was there. The night was great."

Winning league put Lincoln Girl's Volleyball into the playoffs where they had a chance to play up to four or more rounds for a chance to win the CIF championship. For Isa it was a suspenseful couple of weeks, anticipating and thinking of the worst but, as she says, "we played well and ended up making it to the finals against Southwest. Sadly, that where Isa's season ended.

 “I do not feel like that was our best day, but we still played and we, unfortunately, lost." She stops for a second before she continues, "Yep. So, we were not able to bring it home, but I am hoping that this year we might.” Just because of the loss, Isa doesn't consider herself or her team losers, "I feel as if, even if we did lose, we did great last year and losing that game did not define how we are as a whole team.” Isa immediately looked forward to this season where the Girl's Volleyball team will face harder teams. "This year," Isa says, "we’re playing different and we’re better. We are fixing our mistakes and we’re going to be winners.” 

So far, they have. This year the Lincoln Girls Volleyball team is 13-7 having just finished up their two day tournament and are now half way through their season. They go into league starting this week on Tuesday, 9-24-24 for their matchup against Mira Mesa.